Lord Wavell

Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell, was Viceroy of India from 1 October 1943 until early 1947, the viceroy under whom the last schemes for a united India broke down and the division of the Punjab and the Sikhs became unavoidable. He was born at Colchester on 5 May 1883, joined the Black Watch in 1901 and lost his left eye at Ypres in 1915 (Wikipedia).

The Simla Conference. On 14 June 1945 he announced the Wavell Plan: an enlarged Executive Council with equal numbers of high-caste Hindus and Muslims, all of its members Indian except the Viceroy and the Commander-in-Chief. The Simla Conference opened on 25 June 1945, with Master Tara Singh named to represent the Sikhs. It failed when Jinnah refused to submit a list of nominees unless the Muslim League's right to nominate every Muslim member was accepted. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism records that at Simla Tara Singh opposed partition but demanded an independent Sikh state if partition went ahead.

A truncated Pakistan. After the League's success in the 1945 to 1946 elections, Wavell proposed to the Labour government that if Jinnah insisted on full sovereignty he be offered a truncated Pakistan, without Assam, West Bengal with Calcutta, and about half of the Punjab, hoping Jinnah would settle within a united India. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says the Cabinet Mission of March 1946 largely followed this approach. In its statement of 16 May 1946 the Mission itself warned that a smaller Pakistan of Muslim-majority areas would mean dividing the Punjab, which "would of necessity divide the Sikhs", leaving substantial bodies of Sikhs on both sides of the boundary (Hansard). The Sikhs at first rejected the Cabinet Mission scheme, resenting their inclusion in a group with a Muslim majority; the Akali Dal later accepted it after an appeal from the Congress.

Interim government and replacement. In August 1946 Wavell invited Nehru to form an interim government, which took office on 2 September 1946 with Baldev Singh as Defence member. Five League nominees joined in late October, after Wavell negotiated with Jinnah. After the Calcutta violence of 16 August 1946, for which he was blamed in London, Wavell advised that the best course was a staged British withdrawal ending in independence on 31 March 1948, the plan known as the Breakdown Plan (Wikipedia). On 20 February 1947 the British government set June 1948 as the date for transferring power and replaced Wavell with Mountbatten; the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says it had lost confidence in his handling of Indian politicians. The attacks on Sikhs in Rawalpindi and Attock districts came in early March 1947, after his replacement had been announced. He was made Earl Wavell in 1947 and died on 24 May 1950.

Key moments

• 1 October 1943: becomes Viceroy.
• 14 June 1945: announces the Wavell Plan.
• 25 June 1945: the Simla Conference opens.
• 2 September 1946: the interim government takes office.
• 20 February 1947: the British announce his replacement.

What he is remembered for. He is remembered as the Viceroy of the failed Simla Conference, whose truncated-Pakistan proposal, taken up by the Cabinet Mission, would have divided the Punjab and the Sikhs.